Electric-lighting system



(No Model.)

J. I. GONKLIN.

ELECTRIC LIGHTING SYSTEM.

No. 462,287. Patented Nov.- 3, 1891.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOSEPH I. CONKLIN, OF BROOKLYN, NEXY YORK.

ELECTRIC-LIGHTING SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,237, dat d N ember3, 1891.

Application filed February 9, 1891. Serial No. 380,740. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J osEPH I. CONKLIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improve ment in Electric-Lighting Systems, ofwhich the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,is a full, clear, and accurate description.

My invention is an electric-lighting system consisting of thecombination of a main or charging circuit incorporating a dynamo,storage-battery, and circuit-closer, a cut-out circuit incorporating twomagnets and armatures therefor and a local battery, with the armaturesarranged to engage each other and one constructed to operate thecircuit-closer of the main circuit, an automatic switch in the cut-outcircuit, controlled by the main circuit, for alternately energizing themagn ets of the cut-out circuit, and a lamp-circuit connected to thestorage-battery, whereby a uniform potential is automatically maintainedin the storage-battery for supplying the desired lamps.

Myinvention also consists of a certain no vel construction of thecircuit-closer in the main circuit and armatures in the cut-out circuit,and, further, of a certain novel construction of a voltmeter foradapting it to act as an automatic switch, as hereinafter more fullydescribed.

The accompanying drawing represents a side View of parts constituting myelectriclighting system.

Referring to the drawing, the letter A indicates a storage-battery, and13 a dynamo, both of which parts may be of any usual or suitable form.

When lny invention is applied to a railwaycar or other vehicle, thedynamo B may be operated from the axle C by a mechanical movement, asshown at D and more fully described in Letters Patent of the UnitedStates granted to me October 15, 1889, No. 4t] 2,84c1, the dynamo,together with said movement, being usually placed on the floor of thecar under a car-seat, while the storagebattery is placed in anyconvenient place in or under the vehicle.

The letters 6 e indicate two contact-springs forming a eircuitcloser; f9, two electro-magnets, each composed in this example of two coils, andfg armatures concomitant to said magnets, respectively. composed of abell-crank lever, and its auxiliary arm f in a suitable positionrelatively to the contactspring e that it may impinge against saidspring, shown. Each of the arm aturesf g has a suitable retraetilespring joined thereto in the usual way.

The letter I indicates a voltmeter, which may be of any usual orsuitable construction, on the face of which meter are contact pins orpoints i t i which are insulated and usually lie in a plane concentricto a pivot j, on which is mounted a hand 7;, forming the indicator ofthe meter.

The letter O indicates a series of lamps arranged in a circuit which isconnected to the storagebattery A, these lamps being in practice placedat the desired points in the car or other structure where my inventionmay be used.

The operation of my system is to charge the storage battery A from thedynamo B, the circuit of which is as follows: Commencing 'atbinding-post 1, to pole of battery at 2,

through battery to its opposite pole 3,thence to binding-post t ofvoltmeter and through magnets of meter to ,post 5 thereof, thence tocontact-spring c, and through contact-spring e to binding-post 6 ofdynamo. Then the storage-battery A is fully charged, the indicator 7c isat its maximum point and in contact with the pin In this position of theindicator lea current is created from one pole of a local battery S tothe pivot j through the indicator to pin i thence to magnet f, to abinding-post 7, and to the opposite pole of said local battery. Saidcurrent passing through and energizing the magnet f attracts itsarmature f, and this armature is locked by the armature g engagingtherewith by the action of its retraetile spring, as shown. In thisposition of the armature f its arm f bears against the contact-spring c,forcing it away from the spring 6, and the main or charging circuit fromthe dynamo is opened, with the effect of cutting off the supply ofcurrent from the dynamo B to the storagebattery, thereby insuring thesafety of the battery.

It may be here remarked that under normal The armature f is conditionsthe indicator 75 remains within or below its said maximum point, andhence the storage-battery is not entirely out off from the dynamo. henthe potential or current of the storage-battery A is reduced to itsminimum, the indicator 7c recedes, and in passing over the pin Q1completes a circuit from the local battery S to the pivotj through theindicator 7i) to pin F, to and through magnet g to binding-post 7, andthence to battery. The current passing through the magnet g attracts itsarmature g and releases the armature f, and with it the spring 0,permitting the latter to come in contact with the spring 6', thusclosing the main or charging circuit from the dynamo. In case theindicator 70 reaches its minimum point it is brought into contact withthe pin t" and completes a circuit from the local battery S topivotjthrough the indicator to pin 2", to and through an alarm J, andthence to battery.

From this description it will be seen that the indicator 76, togetherwith the contactpoints z" 2' i forms an automatic switch, therebyadapting the voltmeter I to be used for that purpose.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An electric-lighting system consisting of the combination of the mainor charging circuit incorporating a dynamo, storage-battery, andcircuit-closer, the cut-out circuit incorporating two magnets andarmatures therefor, and a local battery, with the armatures ar ranged toengage each other and one constructed to operate the circuit-closer ofthe main circuit, an automatic switch in the cutout circuit, controlledby the main circuit, for alternately energizing said magnets of thecut-out circuit, and a lamp-circuit connected to the storage-battery,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In an electric-lighting system, the main circuit incorporating acircuit-closer, which is composed of two contact-springs, one longer andmore resilient than the other, in combination with a cut-out circuitcomposed of two sets of magnets and armatures therefor, one of whicharmatures is constructed as a bellcrank, the end of which pressesagainst the resilient spring when the armature is at.- tracted, theother armature acting as a lock, and looking or unlocking the bell-crankarmature and closing or opening the circuit, as the case may be,substantially as and for the purposes described.

J. I. CONKLIN.

Vitnesses:

LoUIs W. FROST, R. F. W. BosKERoK.

